


Ink Stems

by DValkyrie



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Drinking, F/F, Smoking, Tattoos, Weddings, florist and tattoo artist!au, there's lots of shit to cover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-09-07 03:12:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8780845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DValkyrie/pseuds/DValkyrie
Summary: The sequel to 'Petals and Sketches.'





	1. Miracle Aligner

**Author's Note:**

> *takes off sunglasses* guess who’s back, bitches. 
> 
> Been wanting to write the second instalment of the florist & tattoo artist!au for a while now, and I’m impatient. Here’s the short prologue, just lift up the skirt to read it.

Surprisingly, there was a gentle breeze in Tokyo. The sky was a pale blue on that late Friday afternoon. Outside, a couple of people bustled by, just going about their day. Some might have the day off, but others might have been on a break.  
  
The florist wished she could do what she had intended on a Friday. Normally, it would be her day off, but she had called in sick on Monday and needed to make up for the hours. However, she was lucky that it was a Friday, because not a lot had happened, save for a delivery of the roses she had ordered.  
  
The door to Bibi opened, and in walked two middle-aged women. They clung tightly to their coats and bristled from the wind outside.  
  
Instantly, the blonde florist put on her retail smile and lifted her head up to meet their line of sight.  
  
“Afternoon ladies, what can I help you with?”  
  
“Just a bouquet of gardenias, dear,” the shorter of the two said, fishing about in her purse.  
  
“Of course,” Eli smiled, not annoyed at all that these two women had entered her store three minutes before closing.  
  
Eli busied herself getting the bouquet ready, which required her to turn her back to the customers as she worked. However, she could still hear what they were talking about.  
  
“Can you believe Shiga-san’s daughter got a tattoo?! Disgusting!”  
  
Eli narrowed her eyes at this, but kept working.  
  
“I know, that woman has let her child get completely out of hand.”  
  
“She will never find a partner now, she will just drop out of university and live on the streets, or perhaps end up in jail.”  
  
“Can you imagine if Hifumi got a tattoo? Eugh!”

“They are vile things indeed, the only people with them are lowlifes and criminals.”

Eli felt a vibration in her pocket, so she took out her phone to see the message and smiled.

_17:58_  
_Almost there xoxo_

The florist let out a soft hum of happiness then pocketed her phone. She then snipped the ribbon around the bouquet and curled it with scissors before turning around to place her finished product on the counter with a smile.  
  
The woman paid and turned to leave with the bouquet in her grip. Eli took this time to finally close up her store. It wouldn’t take long, the till had already been counted and the woman had paid with a credit card.  
  
Sure enough, Eli had the place ready to be closed in no time. She collected all of her things from her back room and turned off the store lights before putting in the alarm. As the alarm ticked away, she hurried out of the store and twirled on her heel to shut the door and lock it.  
  
Once straightening up from the dance routine that was getting the hell out of the shop, Eli saw those two women again looking at a figure resting against the window of _Bibi_.  
  
The figure wore a tank top, which exposed her tattooed arms and upper chest. She had an e-cigarette in her mouth and was scrolling through her phone, not noticing people staring at her.  
  
Eli could see lips moving between the two women and the disgust on their faces, and this gave her an idea. She gripped her bag strap tighter and walked right past the women, calling out a  cheerful “Nozomi!” as she did so.  
  
The figure looked up, and her emerald eyes glistened with joy as Eli approached her.  
  
“Elichi” Nozomi smiled and took the e-cigarette out of her mouth. The tattooed woman hummed when the blonde kissed her on the cheek.  
  
“Come, let’s go to your tattoo studio,” Eli took Nozomi’s tattooed and and pressed another kiss to her temple with a big smile on her face.  
  
The two women looked as though they had seen an animal get run over by a car. Eli squeezed Nozomi’s hand and lead them away from Bibi, smirking as she felt the gazes on them.

* * *

  
  
“E-Elichi? What was that about?” Nozomi asked, not complaining about the affection she was receiving from her girlfriend.  
  
“Those crinkly old bitches were talking down tattoos in my shop,” Eli explained, her free hand stuffed in her jeans pocket.  
  
“Ah, I gotcha,” Nozomi grinned and took a drag of her e-cigarette. Eli frowned and kicked at the concrete.  
  
“I’m so sick of the prejudice against tattoos,” she mumbled, but Nozomi squeezed her hand and leaned on her gently.  
  
“Ya can’t change the world in a day, Elichi, but ya can piss off some old people.”  
  
Chuckling, Eli cracked a grin and leaned back on Nozomi.  
  
“I half-assed her bouquet, to be honest.”  
  
“That ain’t like ya, Elichi,” Nozomi sniggered and turned a corner.  
  
“C’mon, we’re almost there.”


	2. Hey You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umi needs a raise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for no updates. See, two weeks ago I broke my nose and got a concussion from playing volleyball. It’s hard to write with a bruised brain. Then I got one wisdom tooth removed. I have been in a lot of pain, which makes it hard to be creative.
> 
> Hey You - No Doubt

The walk to  _ Lily White  _ was not overly long, but it did take some time. The streets were bustling due to the last day of the working week, so Eli and Nozomi did get swept up occasionally in some of the large crowds. However, they did manage to turn off into the usual quieter strip where  _ Lily White  _ was located, right across from the mysterious store  _ Wonder Flight _ .  
  
“Seriously, what  _ is  _ that place?” Eli scratched her head as they approached the frosted glass of the tattoo studio.  
  
“No one knows,” Nozomi shrugged, opening the door.   
  
“You see it almost every day, how can you not know what it sells?” Eli asked with a raised eyebrow as she entered the shop.   
  
The smell of sanitary products smacked her in the face.    
  
The studio was practically empty, save for the one employee at the counter. Her orange hair with an undercut was ruffled up into spikes as her eyebrow piercings glinted under the soft lights. Looking up, the woman smiled.  
  
“Nozomi-senpai! Eli-san!” 

“Rin-chan, it’s been less than an hour,” Nozomi chuckled as her apprentice bounded out from behind the counter to greet them.  
  
“Is Umi-chan still here?”  
  
“Yeah, she’s cleaning her room,” Rin jabbed a finger to the grey door at the back of the studio.  
  
Nozomi tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, “Remind me to paint that sometime soon.”  
  
Eli smiled at Rin, who smiled back.  
  
“Are you here nyabout the designs?”   
  
“I am, and I’m very excited to see them on a draft van,” Eli bounced on the balls of her feet, pathetically excited for a simple drawing.  
  
“Elichi, why don’t ya make yaself comfortable in the office while I quickly chat to Umi-chan?” Nozomi let go of Eli’s hand and jerked her head over at the other closed door.  
  
The grey door opened, and out stuck a familiar head.  
  
“I thought I heard someone.”  
  
“Hey Umi-chan!” Nozomi pointed a finger gun at the body piercer, who just blinked.  
  
“Is today not your day off?”  
  
“It is, but I gotta show Elichi some things and ya need to fix up mah nose,” Nozomi nudged Eli’s side then walked over to the piercer.  
  
“Rin-chan, show Elichi inside for me.”   
  


* * *

Nozomi sat on the cosmetic bed with a simple smile on her face while Umi snapped on a pair of gloves. 

“So is there something wrong with your piercing?” Umi asked when she turned around to face her patient.  
  
Nozomi shook her head, “It’s fine, but i’d like ya to change the jewellery.”  
  
Umi raised and eyebrow, “You are able to do that yourself.”  
  
“Maybe, but Umi-chan is the professional body piercer with years of expertise on the matter,” Nozomi winked, schmoozing her heart.  
  
Umi looked at Nozomi with the utter definition of a deadpan, poking her nose.  
  
“You are a twenty-six year old woman, Nozomi. Why are you not able to change your piercing yourself?”  
  
“Because ya got the titanium studs in and I want one!” Nozomi grinned, but Umi narrowed her eyes as if the tattoo artist had just insulted her entire family.  
  
“Flatback barbel.”  
  
“Beg ya pardon?”  
  
“The correct term for that piece of jewelry is a titanium flat-back barbel...how can you be so uneducated?” Clenching her fists, Umi turned around to one of her cabinets and pulled out a tiny plastic seal that contained an even tinier piece of metal.  
  
“Well I’m sorry I don’t know ya fancy terms,” Nozomi faux pouted, placing her palms on the back of the bed for support.  
  
“You need to be educated, swine,” Umi muttered, carefully taking out the tiny metal jewelry and placing it on the steel tray next to the bed. She then proceeded to spray the new jewelry with a bottled substance Nozomi knew was sea salt spray.  
  
“So,” Nozomi started, changing the topic of conversation.  
  
“Are ya ready to get married?”  
  
Umi shrugged, “Yes, I guess.”  
  
“It’s pretty soon, only a month or so away.”  
  
“It is, and you are coming, along with Eli, Rin and Hanayo,” Umi muttered, moving to stand in front of Nozomi.  
  
“I’m flattered ya invited us,”  
  
“Why would I  _ not  _ invite you? You are my close friends,” Umi unscrewed the top of Nozomi’s stainless steel jewelry and gently removed it from her nostril.  
  
Nozomi took a few short sniffs, and Umi handed her a tissue.  
  
“It will be lovely to have you there, and not just the majority of the Sonoda family.”  
  
“Keep forgettin’ about ya parents, but at least they’re makin’ the trip down?” Nozomi asked once she had blown her nose.  
  
“Yes, they always wanted me to get married,” Umi then proceeded to unscrew the titanium barbel and narrowed her eyes to focus on the tiny hole is Nozomi’s nose.   
  
“To be honest, It feels like decades ago when you first asked me to pierce your nose.”  
  
“It was only two, to be exact,” Nozomi grinned, staying still while Umi gently inserted the titanium into the nostril.   
  
“Two years ago...interesting,” Umi mused as she gently screwed the titanium into place.

 

* * *

“It’s a huge print, I wasn’t expecting this when it came in the nyassive tube!” Rin spread out the large poster over the office desk for Eli to look at.

While it was a generic white van with Nozomi’s design plastered across, along with the script from  _ Bibi’s  _ logo. Eli’s heart swelled at the print, she was so amazed at how Nozomi was able to design something like that.  
  
“I can’t ask for anything more perfect,” Eli said breathlessly, taking in the gorgeous design.  
  
“It might take a month or so to get it on the van, and then some payments need to be made,” Rin said, making Eli turn to look at the apprentice with a quizzical look.  
  
“...Nyat’s what the delivery guy said,” Rin rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and stuffed her hand into the pocket of her jeans.  
  
Eli shook her head with a smile, just as Nozomi and Umi entered the room.  
  
“How is your nose?” Eli asked the tattoo artist.  
  
“Fine, but she is not to touch it for a day unless wearing gloves,” Umi answered for Nozomi with her hands behind her back.   
  
“And how are you, Umi?” Eli asked the piercer, but Nozomi smirked and started to talk.  
  
“She’s fine, she’s keen for her wedding soon, as are we because we get to go and eat food and tell embarrassing Umi-chan stories!”  
  
“Nozomi!” Umi snapped, but the other three women let out short bursts of laughter.  
  
“Wouldn’t be surprised if you bring up the road trip stories,” Eli chuckled from behind her hand.  
  
“The microphone will be nowhere near you lot,” Umi scowled and folded her arms.  
  
“I don’t think it’s us you will need to worry about,” Eli added, catching Rin and Nozomi’s mischievous gaze.  
  
“Hmm?” Umi raised an eyebrow and saw Rin puckering her lips and waving her hands up and down. 

It clicked with Umi, and she groaned wearily.  
  
“Kotori promised no embarrassing stories.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is always a debate about what to call different types of body jewelry.


	3. Crying Lightning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people panic, others are just dumb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year! 
> 
> Updates will appear less often, but I'll try to upload every month at least.
> 
> Crying Lightning - Arctic Monkeys

Umi walked home, her black jacket covering her blue shirt and bandana fluttering in the breeze.   
  
Turning the key to enter her strange little home, she was greeted to the honking snores of Honoka on the couch, her PS4 controller was dangly dangerously out of her hand.  
  
Rolling her eyes, Umi quietly walked over and took the red device out of Honoka’s loose grip.  
  
“This cost a fortune, do not break it,” she uttered quietly and placed the controller back on the charging station.   
  
Leaving Honoka on the couch, Umi then took off her jacket and walked to her room. On the bed sat her fiancé, reading a book in her pyjamas. With a quiet smile, the body piercer removed her bandana and went about her nightly routine since Kotori was so immersed in her book to have recognised Umi’s presence.  
  
It wasn’t until Umi had sat down on the side of the bed and kissed her cheek softly that Kotori sat upright.  
  
“Umi-chan,” Kotori smiled and leaned against Umi.   
  
“Good evening, what are you reading?” Umi peered at the book curiously.  
  
“Just some textile stuff for that course,” Kotori tilted the book so that Umi could look at the diagrams.  
  
“It’s about different patterns and designs.”  
  
“They seem rather intricate,” Umi mused, her eyes following a rather abstract looking dress pattern.  
  
“Well I have to try to replicate it next week, so we’ll see how intricate they really are,” Kotori closed the book and kissed Umi’s nose.   
  
“But right now I’m pretty tired.”   
  


* * *

  
The two were soon in bed, sound asleep. They remained peaceful for quite some time, keeping each other in a state of undisturbed rest. Kotori liked to keep the window open for natural air, so Umi had developed a habit of clinging to her fiancé in order to stay warm.   
  
Kotori had a spot between Umi’s neck and pillow reserved especially for her, and she nuzzled in closer subconsciously.   
  
This caused Umi to stir. Slowly opening her eyes, Umi winced at how heavy her body felt from sleep. She looked down at the woman in her arms and gently kissed her head, hoping to drift back off again. She had to work tomorrow after all, and it was Nozomi’s day off so the body piercer would be in charge.   
  
The thought of work lead to the realization of what Umi would have to do: the weekly reports, check the appointments, call the locksmith about her piercing room door…  
  
Wait...Her door…  
  
Instantly, Umi was awake.  _ Lily White  _ had been having some problems with their locks on the doors, so the three of them had to slam the doors shut before locking them. Umi would constantly lecture Nozomi and Rin when she felt the two did not use enough force.   
  
But that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that Umi could not remember if she had  _ locked  _ her door after slamming it shut.  
  
With her blood running cold, Umi carefully maneuvered herself out of the bed and scuttled to collect her hoodie and jacket. She stuffed her phone, wallet and her two sets of keys: one for home, and one for work. She scurried out of the bedroom, and slipped on the closest pair of footwear on her way out.   
  
It wasn’t until she was outside that Umi realised how dark it was. Looking down at her phone, she winced at the bright screen that flashed the time at her: 3:14am.  
  
_ ‘Does not matter,’  _ she thought, turning her phone flashlight on and taking off at a brisk walk down the street...in her blue bunny slippers.  
  
Her face turned red as the thin soles were pressed against the pavement. She looked back at her house, completely dark save for the phone, and nervously chewed on her snakebites.  
  
“J-just go to the studio and check the door. It will take no time, and no  one will see you,” Umi muttered to herself and continued down the road. She was lucky to live the closest out of the three of them.    
  
Umi made it down two blocks before her phone rang. Looking at the picture of Kotori’s smiling face to indicate she was the one calling.  
  
“Umi-chan?” Kotori spoke before Umi could even greet her.  
  
“Kotori? Why are you up?” Umi asked as she continued to walk down the street, regretting that she had not changed her shoes.  
  
“I should be asking you that!” Kotori snapped back over the phone, but sleepiness laced her voice.   
  
Umi sighed and sniffled before answering her fiancé, “I do not think I locked my piercing room door, so I am going to check. Go back to sleep and I will be there soon.”  
  
Kotori went silent over the phone, and Umi bit her lip again.  
  
“Umi-chan, it’s three in the morning, the sun isn’t even up! I’m certain no one is gonna break into the studio or your piercing room!”  
  
“You would think that, but I have the cleanest piercing room in Tokyo. I cannot have some scoundrel or thief ruin such a hygienic facility,” Umi disregarded Kotori’s reassurance and turned a corner to walk down another street.    
  
“And they cannot infiltrate the rest of the studio too, I guess,” she quickly added, but that didn’t stop Kotori from letting out an exasperated sigh.  
  
“Umi-chan just come home! It’ll be fine!” Kotori begged over the phone as Umi avoided a puddle.   
  
“It will not take too long, I promise you.”  
  
“Umi-chan!”  
  
“Kotori…” Umi was never one for begging, but she was losing her ability to stay calm rather quickly.  
  
“How about I drop by a restaurant and pick up something?”  
  
“Nothing is open because it’s three in the morning!” Kotori snapped, causing Umi to wince.  
  
Umi went silent as she turned one more corner to end up on the street where  _ Lily White  _ was situated. Fumbling with her keys in her jacket pocket, she took them out and got ready to disarm the alarms.  
  
“There is one place that is open, the Italian place. They have delicious mozzarella sticks, if you like I can bring those h-”  
  
“I don’t  _ want  _ mozzarella sticks I want you home  _ now!! _ ” Kotori screamed over the phone, causing Umi to yank it away from her ear.  
  
“K-Kotori...I am outside the studio, see you in ten minutes,” Umi quickly spoke and hung up before Kotori could reload and fire more words out of the gatling gun that was her mouth. She would have to treat Kotori like an absolute princess when she got back.   
  


* * *

  
  
Upon finding out that her door was indeed locked properly, Umi felt rather stupid. She did notice that Rin had not shut the office door tightly enough, but everything else was fine. Locking the office door properly, Umi made her way back out of the studio and re-set the alarms.   
  
_ “Kotori may not want Italian food, but I do believe I have earned these mozzarella sticks,”  _ Umi thought to herself, thankful that the place next to  _ Wonder Flight  _ had become he twenty-four hour Italian food place she was talking about.   
  
Once she was out of the studio, her phone rang again. Looking down, Umi saw that this time Nozomi was calling her.  
  
“Umi-chan, what the hell are ya doin’?” Like Kotori, Nozomi  _ also  _ didn’t let Umi greet her over the phone.  
  
“I just got a call from ya bird sayin’ ya went down to the studio. Do ya have any idea what time it is?!”  
  
“Nozomi, one of the doors was not locked properly. I do not want to risk a burglar,” Umi walked across the road to the Italian place and pulled out her wallet.  
  
“Umi-chan, who the hell wants to break into a tattoo studio?!”  
  
“You never know!” Umi snapped back while she pushed the door open with her elbow and inhaled the smell of melted cheese and red sauce.   
  


* * *

 

“Did you hear about Umi?” Nico asked Maki that Saturday morning. The smaller of the two was currently sitting on the counter and swinging her legs about while Maki was writing a new message on the chalkboard to go outside.   
  
“Yeah, and it’s crazy how quickly news spreads amongst our strange little friend group,” Maki mused.  
  
Nico chuckled and picked up a pair of scissors from the counter, “Kotori isn’t happy that Umi brought home a bag of mozzarella sticks, either.”  
  
“Well yeah, her fiance was out at some stupid time,” Maki stood up and dusted her hands on her apron, then placed them on her hips and observed her work.  
  
“How does that look?” Maki tilted her head, trying to get other angles to view.  
  
Nico jumped off the counter, careful not to knock the two bouquets she had just finished, and strolled over to look at the board.  
  
“Eh, looks fine,” she waved a hand then turned back to the counter.  
  
“Wow, thanks,” Maki rolled her eyes and followed Nico, who picked up the bouquets.  
  
“What do you  _ want  _ me to do? Throw rose petals at you and say it’s a work of fucking art?” Nico handed the other bouquet to her and pulled out her keys to access the back room.  
  
“No, but some appreciation would be nice,” Maki scowled and followed Nico while eyeing the bouquet in her grip.  
  
“What are these for, anyway?”  
  
“Kotori, they’re dummy bouquets so she can choose which one she likes better,” Nico answered and pressed a few buttons on the temperature control cube to open it and stored bouquet inside.   
  
“We can’t just take a photo for her?” Maki raised an eyebrow.   
  
Nico scowled and moved aside so that Maki could enter the cube and put the bouquet down.  
  
“These are flowers for the most important day of her life, and you want to send a  _ picture  _ of them?!”  
  
Maki folded her arms, her red shirt crinkling with the movement as she stubbornly refused to back down from her older yet shorter fiancé.  
  
“It’d save her time and you effort.”  
  
Of course, it was the wrong thing to say, yet it passed her lips anyway and enraged Nico.  
  
“M-Maki...you  _ filthy  _ peasant, how  _ dare  _ you!” 

With a swift move of her arm, Nico smacked her hand against the temperature control cube’s side. In her fit of dramatics, Nico didn’t realise that the door to the cube had slammed shut until she heard the noise.  
  
Opening her eyes, Nico saw Maki in the cube, still with her arms folded and a flat look on her face.  
  
“You are such a drama queen.”  
  
Nico blinked, and then folded her own arms to mimic Maki and scowled.  
  
“You say that, but I’m not the one stuck in the cube.”  
  
Rolling her eyes, Maki shifted her weight onto her other leg, “Whatever, just open the door and we can go do some more work.”  
  
“Urgh, guess you’re right,” Nico folded her arms and curled her fingers around the handle to open the door.   
Only it did not budge.  
  
Biting her lip, Nico yanked the door again, and again, until her arm was making short yet rapid bursts of energy to try and open the cube.   
  
“C’mon, C’mon!”  
  
Maki raised an eyebrow at Nico’s flustered and movements. She moved her hair, damp from sweat, from her beaded forehead and continued to watch Nico.  
  
“I take it something is wrong?”  
  
“No!” Nico lied and puffed out her chest.  
  
“I’m the great Nico Nii! Nothing is wrong!”  
  
“Then why are you struggling with the door? Or is this more of your shitty dramatics? Hurry up and open it, the inside of this thing is too warm.”  
  
Nico gulped and tried typing in the code to unlock the door, but even with the code punched in, the door refused to open.  
  
“Fuck!” she hissed, her palms growing sweaty. Her fiance was locked in a temperature control cube, and she could not open the door to get her out.  
  
“If the door is locked, why not just change the temperature?” Maki had taken a seat on the floor,  estimating that she would be in there for a bit. Her underarms were damp with sweat, and she had tied back her hair to stop it from being plastered to her face. She was doing her best to be calm, but it was evident that Maki was worried.  
  
“I was g-gonna do that next!” Nico tripped over her words as she slid her sweaty palm over the panel of digits beneath the one she was messing with.   
  
Nico proudly punched the ‘OFF’ button beneath the 1 and 2 buttons, then placed her hands on her hips in a triumphant manner.  
  
“You’re safe, Maki-chan!” She stuck out her chest and barked with pride.  
  
“Great,” Maki rolled her eyes, just as a new voice sounded from the shop’s floor.  
  
“Nico-chan?! Maki-chan?!”  
  
Nico instantly whirled around and bolted out of the back room and onto the shop floor.   
  


* * *

  
Standing near the counter were Hanayo and Honoka.   
  
“Where’s Kotori?” Nico asked, brushing the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.  
  
“She’s at the daycare, and sent us to inspect the flowers! Since we’re her bridesmaids after all,” Honoka bounded forward, and Nico could just imagine a bushy tail wagging.  
  
“Why did she send the bridesmaids when she is the damn bride!”   
  
“No idea, but let’s see the flowers! Honoka bounced up and down on the balls of her feet as Hanayo observed a vase of gardenias behind the counter.  
  
“Those are pretty,”   
  
“Yeah, Eli and Maki did them toge- SHIT!” Nico turned around and bolted into the back room to check on the employee that was still locked in the temperature control cube.  
  
The sight before her made her eyebrows fly into her hair.  
  
Maki was curled into a ball, shivering and blue-fingered.  
  
“N-N-N-Nico!” She spat upon locking her gaze with her fiancé.   
  
Behind Nico, Honoka and Hanayo peered over the oldest girl's shoulders to observe, and Hanayo let out a scream.  
  
“What is Maki-chan doing in there?!”  
  
“She got locked in b-but I turned off the heating system!” Nico panicked and gestured wildly to the panels that Hanayo moved to inspect.   
  
Hanayo’s eyes flew wide open, “Nico-chan, you turned off the heating b-but…”  
  
“But what?!”  
  
“You turned  _ on  _ the cooling system!”  
  
Honoka smacked against the glass of the cube with a howl, and Maki spat out a “you did what?!”   
  
Nico rewound what happened, and then instantly realised her mistake when she had hit the 0 instead of the ‘OFF’ button.  
  
“How the  _ hell  _ d-d-d-do you plan to get me out of here?!” Maki hissed, her teeth chattering.  
  
Nico bit her lip, not ready to do the one thing she hated doing on Saturdays.  
  
“Call Eli.” 


	4. My Beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay and stupid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lack of update because I have a life. 
> 
> My Beat - Oreskaband

The last thing Eli wanted to do on a Saturday was go down to  _ Bibi _ , fix the temperature control cube and thaw out Maki. Nico was terrified at how silent Eli was the entire time the blonde reset the cube as per its instructions and opened the door to release Maki from her icy prison.  
  
“Guess who’s on cleaning duty next Tuesday,” Eli glared at Nico, who froze in horror.  
  
Eli didn’t do anything else in the shop. She fixed everything then stormed out in a huff, annoyed that she had to go to the shop on her day off.   
  
“Nico, for god’s sake,” Eli hissed through her teeth, fists clenched as she walked down the street back home.   
  
-  
  
Eli slammed the door behind her upon entering the apartment.   
  
“So is Maki-chan no longer a popsicle?” Nozomi asked from the bedroom. She had been lounging there for the entire day, drawing up designs as usual.  
  
“Nico’s going to become toast instead,” Eli snarled, taking off her jacket and storming into the bedroom.   
  
Nozomi chuckled and turned down the volume from her docking station.  
  
“Maki-chan will have to take care of her.”  
  
“Those two!” Eli stuffed her jacket onto a coat hanger and shoved it into the wardrobe.  
  
“It’s as if they don’t use their common sense!”   
  
“Guess it had to happen sometime,” Nozomi mused, tapping her pencil against her lips.  
  
“They’re like some kind of comic relief! It shits me! They are my employees for my business, not an entertainment troupe!” Eli continued to go on and on about how unprofessional Nico and Maki were at times while she paced around the room.   
  
“How can they even be engaged to be married when  _ neither  _ of them can function properly for five minutes?!”  
  
Nozomi closed her sketchbook, knowing it was time to stop the Russian whirlwind from destroying the apartment block in her anger.  
  
“Maki-chan and Niccochi are an odd couple,” she started, peering at Eli slowing down.   
  
“You forget they’re a couple because of how they act,” Eli spat and turned on her heel.  
  
Nozomi chose this moment to swing her legs over the bed and stand up. She walked towards Eli, her socks silent against the carpet.  
  
“They may not be ideal, but none of our friends are,” Nozomi’s voice was soft as she stood in front of Eli, looking up at the steaming blonde.  
  
“Kotori-chan and Umi-chan are an odd couple, just like Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan, and Niccochi and Maki-chan. Honoka-chan has always had odd partners, but everyone loves each other for who they are,” Nozomi leaned in to kiss Eli’s nose.  
  
“Just like how I love Elichi for who she is.”   
  
Eli immediately went wide-eyed as a dumb grin curled onto her lips. Nozomi always had a magic charm to calm her down. Warmth spread through her body as Nozomi cupped her left cheek.  
  
“My Elichi is an oddball too, but that’s who she is,” Nozomi chuckled, enjoying the blush that burned across Eli’s cheeks.  
  
“N-Nozomi,” Eli pouted and folded her arms, but did not resist the tattooed thumb that was stroking her cheek ever so carefully.  
  
“Our friends are always odd, and that’s why they’re special, just like how you are special,” Nozomi gently leaned in to kiss Eli gently on the lips, and enjoyed the hum that came from the taller woman’s throat.  
  
“Well…” Eli mumbled against Nozomi’s lips quietly, barely audible even as she slowly shut her eyes.  
  
“You’re probably the oddest one out of all of us.”  
  
Nozomi grinned against Eli, and gently tapped her cheek.  
  
“That’s me.”

* * *

 

“So, the three of ya want matchin’ ink.”  
  
“That’s right! We’re gonnya commemorate living together before Maki-chan moves out and gets hitched!”  
  
“Shut it, Rin.”  
  
Nozomi chuckled from behind the counter at the three young women across from her. Rin, with a snapback and baseball jacket, had one arm of Hanayo’s shoulder and the other over Maki’s. Both looked rather nervous, with Hanayo fidgeting with her hands and Maki with her arms folded.   
  
“I’m not leaving anytime soon, you dummy,” Maki rolled her eyes and shrugged away with her nose up.  
  
“Especially since you got thawed out yesterday,” Rin smirked, “Nyabody wants to sleep with a popsicle, so Nico-chan has to wait.”   


Nozomi continued to chuckle, and tapped the reference images with her fingernails.  
  
“Okay, this should be easy. Did you want me to do all of you?”  
  
“Just Kayo-chin and Me,” Rin jabbed a finger to her own chest.  
  
“I’m gonnya tattoo Maki-chan!”  
  
Maki and Nozomi exchanged a look.  
  
“Ya lettin’ ‘er?”  
  
“Just this once,” Maki went stiff.  
  
“And it’s going to be tiny...on my ankle…”  
  
“Maki-chan,” Hanayo fiddled with the pen Nozomi had handed and read through the form on the counter. She did so with the utmost care and precision so as to not have a repeat of what had happened last time.   
  
“It’s a tomato emoji.”  
  
“I-I know!” Maki snapped.  
  
“And you’re getting the riceball emoji!”   
  


“And Rin’s getting the ramen emoji!” Rin slung an arm over Maki’s shoulder without a care in the world.   
  
The redhead rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stop the small grin that played at the corner of her lips.

* * *

  
“So, why are y’all gettin’ food emojis?” Nozomi asked Hanayo as she lay on the cosmetic bed with her eyes shut and glasses off.  
  
“Well, the three of us have been very close friends since high school,” Hanayo explained, breathing deeply as the tiny tattoo needle went through her hip.  
  
“And we each like different food which is set to our names in our phones,” The younger girl giggled at how silly it was, but Nozomi smiled and wiped away the excess ink.  
  
“I don’t think it’s silly,” Nozomi chuckled.  
  
“Didya know Umi-chan has the kanji for manju on her ankle in a pink circle?”  
  
When Hanayo nodded, Nozomi removed the needle and cleaned it.   
  
“There ain’t nothin’ wrong with gettin’ whatchya loved tattooed on ya. I know someone who has a mighty fine tattoo of their favourite  _ Pokémon,  _ and they ain’t ashamed in the slightest.”  
  
Across the studio, Rin laughed loudly, making Maki cover her ears.  
  
“Nyahah! Yeah I know that girl!”  
  
“Do you have to be so loud?” Maki winced while sitting on another cosmetic bed with her arms wrapped around her knees.   
  
“Hey, I’m the artist here,” Rin mocking stuck her nose up.  
  
“I need all of the creative freedom I can get.”  
  
“You’re a pain in the ass flatmate,” Maki deadpanned, and winced when the needle in Rin’s grip went back into her skin.  
  
“Now Nyaw, Maki-chan, who’s the one with the pointy thingy?”  
  
Nozomi and Hanayo chuckled as the banter continued between the two.  
  
“By the way, Nozomi-chan,” Hanayo spoke once all the giggles were out of her system.  
  
“Honoka-chan and I were thinking about having you over to the daycare one day to do an art class for the children. I-I’ve been doing some, but I could be nice for them to see other styles of art…”  
  
Nozomi stopped tattooing and looked at the younger woman.  
  
“I-It’s silly I know! I’m sorry, forget I asked,”  
  
“Hanayo-chan, that sounds amazin’!” Nozomi smiled at Hanayo, moving the machine away and setting it down to change her gloves.  
  
“I’d love to come in and work with the lil ones, but I could only come in on Friday, since it’s my day off.”  
  
“That can be arranged, we have our drawing sessions on friday anyway,” Hanayo smiled and adjusted her glasses while Nozomi changed the needle in her tattoo machine.  
  
Dipping the grouped needles into the capsule of white ink, Nozomi could not stop grinning. It would be fantastic for her and the modified community, and change the stigma that tattooed and pierced people were not suitable for children.  
  
Nozomi smiled to herself, colouring in the white of Hanayo’s riceball and thinking about all the children she could inspire with her art. 

* * *

 

“So the white roses would go here, then I’d put in the hydrangeas around the outside. Or, I could just mix the two together so you would get different pops of white and blue,” Eli scribbled and sketched on a piece of wrapping paper to show the two women standing before her the different ideas she had.  
  
Honoka was completely mesmerised by how fast Eli could work, being completely respectful of the wedding’s white and blue theme.   
  
However, Kotori was tapping a finger to her cheek.  
  
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Eli stopped sketching and smiled gently upon seeing the wheels turning in Kotori’s head.  
  
“Hmm…” Kotori pursed her lips and brought another finger to her cheek.  
  
“While I do love all of the ideas, I’m still a little concerned...It’s lacking ‘pa-zaz,’”  
  
“‘Pa-zaz?’” Eli blinked in confusion and looked at an equally puzzled Honoka.   
  
Kotori nodded, “Yeah, there needs to be more ‘pa-zaz’ or ‘dazzle,’ something that people won’t forget.”  
  
“That’s understandable, but I’m gonna need a bit more direction,” Eli answered honestly. Kotori was not just a customer, she was Eli’s friend, and Eli held the job of being the chosen florist for her friend’s wedding in the highest regard.  
  
“Well…” Kotori drawled and dazed off at a wreath of flowers hanging on the wall behind Eli.  
  
“Like that!”   
  
Eli followed Kotori’s pointed finger and turned to look.  
  
“That old thing?” A blonde eyebrow quirked up. It was a  _ very  _ old wreath that Eli had attempted to arrange with the inspiration of  __ Ikebana.   
  
“It would be beautiful to have something like that in our colour schemel,” Kotori grinned and tapped her nails together. Honoka, however, was eyeing Eli’s furrowed brows.  
  
“Kotori-chan,” Honoka was teetering around the blunt answer.  
  
“I can’t do traditional  _ Ikebana, _ ” Eli finished with a sigh and averted her gaze from Kotori to the ground. She took note of a ribbon that had fallen in front of the back room door.  
  
“No one has taught me how to do it…”  
  
Of course, no one wanted to take on the ‘foreigner’ to teach  _ Ikebana  _ to her properly, and that was something that always bothered Eli.   
  
Kotori’s face fell, but then she shook her head quickly.  
  
“So?”  
  
Eli looked up, confused. Honoka mirrored the blonde’s expression.  
  
“So what if it’s not an exactly traditional  _ Ikebana?  _ It will be Eli-chan’s interpretation! And that’s what I love about it,” Kotori pointed at the wreath again and traced out the features.  
  
“You have such a contemporary setting, but there are traditional elements within the placing and your colour choices. That would be beautiful around the lighthouse setting of Sagami Bay!”  
  
“Oooh yeah! I see that!” Honoka squinted at the wreath as Eli rubbed her arm.  
  
“I...I don’t know...I did that a long time ago with only a video as a reference…”  
  
“So imagine what you can do now! You’re the best florist around, Eli-chan, and people love your flowers because you create art out of them with so many different influences!” Kotori gushed, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.   
  
Eli hunched she shoulders, she was never good at receiving compliments.  
  
“Plus,” Kotori lowered her voice gently.  
  
“It would mean so much to Umi-chan and me, that Eli-chan’s custom designs were for our wedding only,  __ that’s  the ‘pa-zaz’ I’m looking for.”

The engaged woman’s smile was infectious, and Eli felt her stomach churn away the gloom and fill with warmth. She was right, it was Eli’s custom flowers that she wanted, and it would blend perfectly with the idea of mixing the traditional with the modern world.  
  
“Okay,” Eli nodded and pulled out a fresh piece of paper.  
  
“I’ll see what I can do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the person with the pokémon tattoo.
> 
> Tumblr: Tarot-Tatas  
> Twitter: DValkyriemusic


	5. Judy Is A Punk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for no updates. University is very demanding. 
> 
> Judy Is A Punk - The Ramones

Umi always said there are two types of fears: rational and irrational. Being scared of something like heights, spiders, thunder storms or sharks, is a rational fear. Being scared of something lollipops, chairs, flags and mistletoe, is an irrational fear.  
  
Being scared of children, is also an irrational fear.  
  
“Umi-chan, ya not even comin’ inside with me, why are ya hands shakin’?” Nozomi quirked an eyebrow as she sat in the mint green  _ Fiat  _ being driven by Umi. The piercer’s knuckles were white as they clamped onto the steering wheel.   
  
“I am not good with children.”  
  
“Again, ya ain’t even goin’ in the place,” Nozomi gave an exasperated sigh and stretched out her arms from the seat.  
  
“And how are ya even  _ with  _ Kotori-chan? She co-owns the damn place!”  
  
“She does not bring her work home,” Umi’s stone of a reply made Nozomi roll her eyes and thank the a higher power that the car had pulled over in front of  _ Printemps _ .  
  
“Alright, I’ll see ya later,” Nozomi opened the car door and unbuckled her seatbelt.   
  
“Would you like anything done today at the store?” Umi asked, placing the car’s handbrake on.  
  
“Nah, just do the usual,” Nozomi shrugged and shut the car door.   
  
As Umi drove away, Nozomi was left to stand out the front of the pastel coloured paint job that was the  _ Printemps  _ building. She was also left with her thoughts of teaching children how to draw.  
  
_ ‘Dang...what have I gotten myself into?’  _   
  


* * *

 

Turns out that Nozomi was having an absolute blast as she sat at the tiny table with her sketch pad out drawing with fifteen toddlers. The crayons were everywhere, and coloured paper was splayed across the tables, but the jagged creations of dragons, flowers, fish and cats made Nozomi’s heart swell.   
  
The glowing look on Hanayo and Kotori’s faces also made Nozomi feel so special as the two children on either side of showed her their creations.  
  
“Ruby-chan that’s amazin’!” Nozomi smiled at the red-headed child holding up a drawing of a flower.   
  
The little girl blushed and tucked her chin into her little pink sweater.  
  
“Waku…”  
  
“Ya gonna call it Waku?” Nozomi asked, and Ruby nodded.  
  
“That’s a great name,” the tattoo artist grinned and moved her own drawing to show Ruby.  
  
“Do ya have a name for my lion here?”  
  
Ruby looked at the powerful lion Nozomi had drew, and pointed a stubby little finger against its nose.  
  
“Piki…”  
  
Nozomi blinked, but smiled back at at the child.  
  
“That’s a great name.”

* * *

 

 

“So the blue and white would go here?” Nico pointed to the diagram on the counter. 

“Yes,” Eli rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to let out a long sigh. She had been going over the wedding bouquets for nearly an hour, and Nico  _ still  _ had no idea how Eli’s bouquet plan would work with her idea of mixing in  _ Ikebana  _ with her usual style.  
  
“But that would reverse the-”  
  
“I know,” Eli shut her eyes and stretched out her arms from her leaning position against the counter.  
  
“But it will work.”  
  
“Well, we gotta test it first,” Nico slapped the counter before walking over a bouquet of hydrangeas to bring back over.  
  
“If we  _ really  _ try and stick the roses up over the hydrangeas, the proportions will look strange.”  
  
“Not if we provide the hydrangeas with a base within the vase,” Eli countered Nico and jabbed her pencil at the diagram again.  
  
“Umi said it’s possible to get a little bit of wood and put the flowers on there to float, but the catch is they might not stay as vibrant for as long.”  
  
Nico shrugged and tossed her head back.  
  
“Of course Umi knows.”  
  
Eli shot a scowl at Nico.  
  
“On the topic of Umi, I need to see her again about my naval.”  
  
“It’s acting up again?” Nico raised an eyebrow and looked from Eli’s scowling face down to her blue apron.  
  
“Yeah, and I’ve done everything she said to do. Maybe it’s the weather?”  
  
“Guess you should just ask Miss Cleo- I mean Umi,” Nico sarcastically corrected herself.   
  
“I will, and in the meantime,” Eli stood up and reached for a dustpan behind the counter on the ribbon shelf.  
  
“You can clean up the thorns.”  
  
Nico groaned as Eli placed the dustpan firmly on the counter, then retreated into the back room. 

 

* * *

 

It was a quiet day, mainly due to the rain. Not many people jumped at the idea of travelling through the rain to get a tattoo.    
  
Umi was at the counter, sorting through appointments, while Nozomi and Rin were sitting at a station, working on one of the most difficult designs for a tattoo: the phoenix.   
  
“Rin-chan, the phoenix has to be done with such precise lines and strokes, so just take your time” Nozomi smiled down at the pigskin that was currently getting the outline of the mythical bird. Rin had barely just started, and her forehead was sweating.   
  
“It’s tough,”  
  
“Of course, it’s the phoenix,” Nozomi lightly placed a hand on Rin’s shoulder. Rin moved the needle back and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.  
  
“Hey, Senpai?”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
Rin didn’t continue, so Nozomi looked up to see why. Rin was looking off at a stencil on the wall that Nozomi had done a few days ago. It as a simple butterfly.  
  
“What’s that stencil for?”  
  
Nozomi instantly said, “It’s a head tattoo, Rin-chan.”  
  
Rin’s mouth dropped open. She put the machine down and turned it off. She then let a huge grin form on her lips as she pointed to the stencil.  
  
“Senpai, I want a head tattoo!”  
  
Nozomi’s eyebrows flew into her bangs as two hands came crashing down onto the counter.  
  
The tattoo artists looked over to see Umi glaring at them.  
  
“Umi-senpai?” Rin peered around Nozomi to get a better view. Only one word came out of Umi’s mouth.  
  
“No.”  
  
“Huh? But why?!” Rin whined, clasping her hands together in a pleading motion. Umi straightened up and moved from behind the counter with her arms now folded.   
  
“This is not a circus, Rin. That tattoo Nozomi is doing is for a private client who only she knows the name of. We do not promote head tattoos here.”  
  
“Umi-chan, relax,” Nozomi soothed, waving a hand lazily in the air.   
  
“I may have  _ some  _ restrictions to my tattoos, but head tattoos, as long as they aren’t too big, are fine with me.”  
  
“Nozomi, I expected better of you,” Umi snapped, steeling herself.  
  
“Rin is barely even an adult!”  
  
“I am twenty-three!”  
  
“And this idea literally came from glimpsing at a stencil that  _ you  _ should have kept in the break room!” Umi also jabbed a finger at the stencil. Nozomi sighed and stood up.  
  
“Fine Umi-chan, I’ll move the stencil.”  
  
“And as for  _ you, _ ” Umi turned to Rin while Nozomi took down the stencil. The apprentice gulped, ready for death by body piercer.  
  
“You are  _ not  _ getting your head tattooed.”  
  
“B-but-”  
  
“No buts, Rin,” Umi’s voice cut through the air, making the apprentice jump up in her seat.   
  
“Many things can go wrong with head tattoos, and you’re still an apprentice. You might leave here within a year. Do you  _ really  _ want a tattoo on your head if you have to go get a different job?”  
  
Rin instantly fell silent, hiding behind her orange hair. Umi let out an affirmative ‘hmph’ and headed off to her piercing room.  
  
Nozomi held the stencil in her hands and gave Rin a sympathetic smile. Rin picked up the tattoo machine and turned it on to continue her work.  
  
“You’re not my mum, Umi-senpai,” she mumbled under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be some updates a bit more regularly now.

**Author's Note:**

> So let's chat:
> 
> Tumblr: @Tarot-Tatas  
> Twitter: @DValkyrieMusic


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